By: Anthony Miller
Monday night football featured a close battle that resulted in the Dallas Cowboys pulling out a 20-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Things did not start well for Dallas as they went three and out and allowed a 26-yard punt return to put the Chargers at the Cowboys’ 42-yard line. LA went right down the field in five plays capped off by a Justin Herbert to Keenan Allen touchdown to make it 7-0.
The Cowboys responded right back with a nine-play drive ending with Dak Prescott calling his own number on fourth and one at the Chargers 18-yard line running it in for the touchdown. Dallas was able to even the game out at 7-7 as it would stay that way for most of the first half.
Halfway through the second quarter, Dallas was able to put together a nice drive all the way to the Chargers 13-yard line. The Cowboys tried a quarterback sneak with Prescott on fourth and one that would fail giving the ball back to LA.
After a Cowboys defensive stand, Dallas closed the half out with a 57-yard drive in under a minute to set up Brandon Aubrey with a 32-yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 10-7 lead going into halftime.
The Chargers started the second half with a nice 13-play, 68-yard drive that would get them down to the Cowboys’ seven-yard line. LA went for it on fourth down and one with a Herbert pass going incomplete to Josh Palmer turning the ball over on downs.
While Dallas went three and out on their first offensive drive, the Chargers were able to get a field goal on their next drive to tie it up. The Cowboys responded with Tony Pollard coming up with a 60-yard completion setting them up with a Prescott-Brandin Cooks touchdown to give Dallas a 17-10 lead.
Dallas’ defense got a quick stop, but Jalen Tolbert fumbled on the punt return giving the ball back to the Chargers. LA only needed 20 yards and four plays to have Herbert connect with Gerald Everett for a one-yard score to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter.
As Dallas did well Monday night, they responded to a Chargers score with a score of their own. Aubrey came through again with a 39-yard field goal to give Dallas a 20-17 lead with 2:19 to go in the game.
It would be the defense coming up big at the end of the game thanks to a Micah Parsons sack and Stephon Gilmore closing it out with an interception. The Cowboys held on for the 20-17 win over the Chargers.
Dallas’ win puts them at 4-2 on the season whereas the Chargers fell to 2-3 on the season.
Highlights From Dallas Cowboys’ Win
With a lack of a running game going, Prescott was forced to carry the offense and did a good job bouncing back from their tough loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He finished with 272 passing yards and one passing touchdown while adding a team-high 40 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown as well. His quarterback rating was 109.3 putting together one of his best performances of the young season.
A lot of questions have been brought up lately about CeeDee Lamb being a top receiver and this seemed to have silenced the critics for the time being. Lamb finished the game with seven catches for 117 yards catching all seven of his targets. While Pollard only had 30 yards on the ground, he had 80 yards receiving in the game with 60 of them coming on one play.
Statistically, Dallas’ defense might not look flashy, but they performed well keeping a good Chargers offense in check. Parsons recorded the team’s only sack of the game on LA’s final drive of the game. Gilmore came through with the team’s only turnover on the last offensive play for LA getting an interception. The Cowboys were able to get eight quarterback hits on Herbert, so they were able to apply the pressure on him.
Other key stats for the Cowboys’ defense include allowing just 53 yards on the ground and 272 total yards against the Chargers. One statistic for Dallas’ offense that is a concern is five sacks were allowed in the game. That will be something the Cowboys will have to address this week in practice.
The win came at a good time for Dallas as they enter their bye week this week. Their next game won’t be until October 29 as they will be at home against the Los Angeles Rams.
Featured Image via X (@NFL)